(10 Mar 2015, 9:46 pm)Tom wrote - X2/X12
- 308
- X18
- 1/1B/5/5A 

(11 Mar 2015, 12:10 pm)Jimmi wrote Yeah I find the 1 to run alright most of the time.

The X1 is tight and have been noticing it arriving in Darlington late.

5/5A is nearly always late whatever time of the day you are using it, when I use this service it is always around 5 minutes late during the daytime. Hopefully something gets done soon as it is becoming increasingly annoying waiting for this service and is almost never on-time when by some miracle the service isn't late it can be anything up to 5 minutes early. Evening timetable is incredibly tight.

8/8A Darts are prone to breakdowns.

56 always seems to be late heading to Bishop Auckland from Ferryhill.

21A often spot this one running late when arriving in Middlesbrough and often leaves late too.

22 sometimes late.

23 only 30 minute breaks for drivers which means late departures if a bus arrives late.

X12/X2 already explained my thoughts on this.

X93 simply down to the nature of the route.

(11 Mar 2015, 12:29 pm)tyresmoke wrote 1s and 5s due to be changed as a result of service changes in Darlington anyway
21A I usually find has more than enough time, just some of it can be in the wrong place. You can leave Middlesbrough late and be back on time by Sedgefield usually however. The only time I ran late throughout was because of leaving Mbro 10+ late... usually back on time by Peterlee to come back though! Can't comment on most of the others having very little experience of them. Stockton's punctuality figures vs Durham's figures on the X12 are an eye opener and I'd love to know why that is the case.

(11 Mar 2015, 12:33 pm)Jimmi wrote Any idea on 5/5A changes, I imagine small changes possibly with the 1 no longer heading to Darlington College.

Still think Belmont's X12/X2 problems stem from driver changes and slow Gemini's.

(11 Mar 2015, 12:29 pm)tyresmoke wrote 1s and 5s due to be changed as a result of service changes in Darlington anyway
21A I usually find has more than enough time, just some of it can be in the wrong place. You can leave Middlesbrough late and be back on time by Sedgefield usually however. The only time I ran late throughout was because of leaving Mbro 10+ late... usually back on time by Peterlee to come back though! Can't comment on most of the others having very little experience of them. Stockton's punctuality figures vs Durham's figures on the X12 are an eye opener and I'd love to know why that is the case.

(11 Mar 2015, 1:24 pm)tyresmoke wrote I think it's just small changes with an extra bus being added to the cycle to improve reliability - it will also interwork with service 19 I am told (but the college bit being removed from service 1 partially covers that anyway)

(11 Mar 2015, 1:44 pm)JoshP wrote Does this mean the 19, a not particularly busy route, will be Pulsar operated on weekdays if this interworking proceeds? And how do the EcoCities cope on this route on Sunday's are they decent enough? 

(11 Mar 2015, 4:26 pm)MrPottski wrote EcoCity is fine on the 19, it's a quiet run with plenty of time. However the 5A is a bit tight, but you do get recovery time in Bishop.

(09 Mar 2015, 7:34 pm)aureolin wrote I'm assuming it's in reference to 'low cost units'. The low cost being pay the staff less than their colleagues, in order to make a profit from public tenders. It's not right, and it should never happen anywhere that pay scales are in operation. I'm not denying that it does happen, and that it happens elsewhere too, but that's ultimately up to the workers. 

I know of unionised companies split into as many as 5 legal entities, and everyone is on the same set of pay scales. Regardless of what work they're allocated to.

(11 Mar 2015, 4:48 pm)JoshP wrote Will a Pulsar get through the Denes safely it's a large vehicle?

(11 Mar 2015, 4:59 pm)Cock Robin wrote Why is it not right? The alternative is to pay higher wages and lose the work to a competitor. Everyone is paid at least the minimum wage, and no-one is forced to work there.

(11 Mar 2015, 6:53 pm)aureolin wrote Same old comedy on the X12/X2 today. My particular highlight was the 15:25 X12 departure from Durham Bus Station, which left 30!! minutes late, heading towards Middlesbrough. The 15:55 X12 departure was also 10 minutes late, so at least there was some gap between the two.

I think the former would have been the 12:05 X12 departure from Middlesbrough, which was running 20 minutes late when I checked, and subsequently 23 minutes late when it departed Durham as the X2 to Newcastle.

(11 Mar 2015, 6:53 pm)aureolin wrote Same old comedy on the X12/X2 today. My particular highlight was the 15:25 X12 departure from Durham Bus Station, which left 30!! minutes late, heading towards Middlesbrough. The 15:55 X12 departure was also 10 minutes late, so at least there was some gap between the two.

I think the former would have been the 12:05 X12 departure from Middlesbrough, which was running 20 minutes late when I checked, and subsequently 23 minutes late when it departed Durham as the X2 to Newcastle.

(11 Mar 2015, 8:10 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote You should E-Mail the traffic comissioner and copy Arriva in the E-Mail. They'd get hammered if they don't sort it out

(11 Mar 2015, 8:17 pm)aureolin wrote I wouldn't bother with that. I'll just do what I usually do, and give customer services the opportunity to sort it out, and come back with a sensible response. If they don't, then I'll email it on to Knox and Featham.

Mind you, I think Scott has a point in what he said about Durham runs being the problem...

(11 Mar 2015, 5:07 pm)Jimmi wrote If a EcoCity can get round the 19 route then Pulsar's should be fine, although West Park Hospital may be a bit of a struggle.

(11 Mar 2015, 5:07 pm)Jimmi wrote If a EcoCity can get round the 19 route then Pulsar's should be fine, although West Park Hospital may be a bit of a struggle.

(12 Mar 2015, 7:37 pm)upt50k wrote i think the right turn out of Willow Rd onto West Auckland Rd will not be easy.The bigger bus should stop the complaints  about the driver's who use it as staff transport and their behavior.Arriva only took on the 19 to save moey by doing away with the dedicated staff buggy.Lets hope it is not the easy option to cancel if there are problems with timekeeping on the 1 and 5 if these are to be coupled together

(12 Mar 2015, 5:46 pm)Dan wrote The rear lights on 9990 look mightily odd:
https://flic.kr/p/rizsjy

(12 Mar 2015, 6:22 pm)aureolin wrote Latest in my X12/X2 saga.


1700 - X12 - Durham-Middlesbrough - 12L by the time it reached Stockton, with the 1715 following directly behind it.

(12 Mar 2015, 5:46 pm)Dan wrote The rear lights on 9990 look mightily odd:
https://flic.kr/p/rizsjy

4074 now sold to Wigleys:
https://flic.kr/p/rA49BS

(12 Mar 2015, 9:56 pm)Malarkey wrote Looks like theyve been nabbed off an Olympian or failing that a Dart.

(12 Mar 2015, 9:54 pm)palatine3833 wrote Surely this would mean that the 1715 was running 3 mins early?  That is worse than any of them running late.

(13 Mar 2015, 8:53 am)aureolin wrote Probably best I don't give my opinion on this, but I don't think I'm being unfair in saying the 1715 has an easy life, if it can stay as close as possible behind the 1700.